the homeland

I was going to post a pic of something cherry red and patriotic, but I only brought pastels and whites for their light-reflecting properties and have no bright colours!

Happy Canada Day to everyone back home!

What I miss about Canadian summer today: Tomatoes, twirling sparklers, lemonade, swimming in the great lakes, summer concerts

Whenever people yell Mzungu and I reply,
"Si mzungu, ninatokea Canada!" (I'm not European, I'm Canadian)they become very excited and interested to learn about our country. Now I've trained all the meat sellers beside my house and even some women who I buy oranges from to yell

"Hey, Mcanada! What's up?"
It puts a smile on my face.

I've started taking Swahili lessons from a lady named Dr Salala who is german, wears mumus and scratches incessantly. She's a great teacher though.

Check out CNN on Saturday (although I have no idea what time, sorry). The women's org I am working with hosted Oxfam Canada (as well as Jim from The Barenaked Ladies and his manager, Pierre) on Wednesday. We introduced them to our project and all of Kivulini's work, took them to the regional hospital, some small clinics and family homes. They were here to gather information and see with their own eyes how Tanzania is faring. They were also making a video to help bring back audio-video evidence that Canadian aid and debt-relief is helping Tanzania. They also wanted to show how Tanzania is still in need of our government's continued support. They captured footage here to bring back and distribute to media outlets, as well as clips to play during the Canadian Live8 concert tomorrow. Check it out if you can, as it's definitely worth a watch.

Okay, I'm off for now before the internet crashes. Enjoy the bbqs and fireworks!